Particular users consistently add clutter to their questions ("Thanks in advance", "Any ideas?"). I will usually suggest an edit to remove these. However, the same users continue to add the same clutter in subsequent questions presumable because they haven't seen the edit, or fail to pay attention to it.

What is the best way to ask these users to stop? A comment underneath the question after an edit seems a little clumsy because of the irrelevance to the question.

I've tried this only to receive a reply like "So are useless comments". It definitely does seem hypocritical, which makes it less likely for the user to pay attention to it.
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mmcnickleOct 14 '11 at 12:25

@mmcnickle: Well, you've been drawing attention to that user now, we'll see how that works out.
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Time Traveling BobbyOct 14 '11 at 12:39

I wouldn't do that. Moderators are there for exception handling. Users saying "thanks" aren't an exception, it's just something we don't encourage, but tolerate. What action do you reckon the moderator should take?
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slhckNov 21 '11 at 17:20

2

@slhck - While this might not be viable on Stack Overflow due to scaling issues, getting a meta comment from a mod would probably be significantly more motivating than getting one from an ordinary user. I support this for SE 2.0 sites, but don't think it's a good idea on SO.
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Kevin VermeerNov 21 '11 at 17:52